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Throwing a party? This all-Punjabi menu, featuring Mutton Pulao and Palak Gosht, is sure to be a hit......
BISMA TIRMIZI
FOOD CONTRIBUTOR
Palak is always a hit with pulao, especially with a side of shami kabab
My mother always used to say that setting a menu for a meal is as important as making it.
A table spread of mismatched food items is quite the damper on the spirit of a hungry stomach. There were many a times that we would be heading home from a party and Ami would either observe that the menu was very well coordinated, or that the host had done a poor job of putting together the meal.
The menu must make sense, Ami maintained, and not only when entertaining guests, but also in everyday family meals.
I recently entertained a few friends for dinner. I put together the menu with great care, deciding to stick to a staple menu of a pulao, murgh masala, shami kabab, palak gosht, kathi daal, subzi, roti, salaad and raita.
I wanted the meal to be balanced, delicious and something that my wonderful guests would enjoy. Palak is always a hit with pulao, especially with a side of shami kabab.
The dinner was an expected hit, and not for its fanciness, but because the menu items sat together beautifully to make a wonderfully delicious meal over warm chit-chat and laughter.
The recipes I share with you today mostly come from my Nani’s kitchen, with the exception of khatti daal. Enjoy my menu. Here it is, from my kitchen to yours.
Mutton Pulao
The aromatic effervescence of fennel, coriander seeds and onions cooking in mutton yakhni (stock) makes pulao a delightful main course. The dish always transfers me to the time of wonder years when I thought my elders would live forever, sitting around a table of laughter, reprimands, family history lessons and character building.
Pulao is a universal and ancient food and has gathered many world cuisines in its embrace. History relays that the chef-d'œuvre of Persian kitchens was mutton and lamb pulao and it transformed to an elegant dish as it travelled from the campfires of hardened nomadic shepherds to the courts of the caliphs.
From ancient Persia, it spread far and wide to the entire Muslim world and beyond. When Babar arrived from Central Asia, he abhorred the sub-continent's cuisine. He was used to a hearty meat-based nomadic shepherds' meals, like the pulao. And so the pulao entered our region.
The cuisine of Pakistan and India may have central Asian, Turkish, Afghan and Persian roots, but we can't ignore that its nourishment and beauty was realised by the spices indigenous to the region. The sub-continental food is unique and has evolved over centuries to become what it has today — rich, vibrant, flavourful and elegant.
Ingredients
2¼ to 2½ lbs mutton, small pieces (preferably goat leg or shoulder meat)
1½ tbsp fennel seeds
3 tbsp coriander seeds
2 large onions
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp cumin
¼ to ½ cup oil
8½ cups water
2 cups rice
Salt to taste
1½ tbsp yogurt
1 tsp fresh ginger (chopped)
1 tsp fresh garlic (chopped)
Method
1) Add mutton, fours quarters of one large onion, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, salt to taste and water in a cooking pot and bring the water to boil.
2) Reduce heat to medium until the mutton is cooked and stock (yakhni) is reduced to half its original quantity (4¼ mugs).
3) Remove mutton pieces from stock (yakhni) and strain stock thoroughly through sieve, discarding the drained fennel, coriander and onions.
4) In a large pot pour oil and brown thinly sliced onions.
5) Once the onions are golden brown, add mutton, ginger, garlic, garam masala powder, cumin, salt to taste and yogurt and stir on high heat for a few minutes.
6) Now add mutton stock and bring to boil on high heat, adding pre-washed rice.
7) Maintain high heat until the rice fluffs and the stock is just a thin layer on the top of the rice.
8) Taper heat to low and seal the pot, initiating the 'dum' method (steam cooking after sealing the pot).
9) Let sit on low heat for 30 minutes.
10) Remove lid. Your perfect pulao is ready to be enjoyed.
Palak Gosht
The Food and Travel Magazine says the following about spinach:
The first we heard of spinach in Britain was when King Richard the Second’s master cooks penned a simple recipe for it in England’s earliest cookery book. Wherever it originated from, everybody seemed to fall for its robust mineral flavours and versatility. In India and Persia its pungent taste was welcomed as the perfect base for the intensely spiced cuisine.
Nothing is more quintessentially Punjabi than saag; it’s a hearty food, abundant in flavour and nutrients, much like the land and the people it belongs to.
Ingredients
2 lbs goat meat (preferably leg meat)
Chopped spinach
1½ medium sized onions
2½ medium sized tomatoes
Oil to taste
1 tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp fresh garlic
Salt to taste
3 to 5 green chillies (sliced in half)
1 to 1½ tsp red chilli
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin
½ to 1 tsp garam masala
10 to 12 black peppercorns
8 to 12 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 black cardamom
Chopped cilantro, green chillies, and chopped ginger for garnish
Method
1) In a pot, put together meat, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and ginger garlic.
2) Cook for 10 to 15 minutes on medium to high heat until the meat releases water, stirring occasionally.
3) Now add powdered spices and salt; cook for a few minutes, adding oil, whole spices and green chillies.
4) Cook and stir on high heat until the stew is of a rich red hue and the oil separates from the meat, adding a little water (eyeballing the required amount) to the stew and leave to simmer until meat is almost tender.
5) Add in the spinach and let the meat and spices cook together until tender, with the oil sitting atop.
6) Garnish and serve with hot chappati, naan or boiled rice. I prefer it with boiled white rice.
BISMA TIRMIZI
FOOD CONTRIBUTOR
Palak is always a hit with pulao, especially with a side of shami kabab
My mother always used to say that setting a menu for a meal is as important as making it.
A table spread of mismatched food items is quite the damper on the spirit of a hungry stomach. There were many a times that we would be heading home from a party and Ami would either observe that the menu was very well coordinated, or that the host had done a poor job of putting together the meal.
The menu must make sense, Ami maintained, and not only when entertaining guests, but also in everyday family meals.
I recently entertained a few friends for dinner. I put together the menu with great care, deciding to stick to a staple menu of a pulao, murgh masala, shami kabab, palak gosht, kathi daal, subzi, roti, salaad and raita.
I wanted the meal to be balanced, delicious and something that my wonderful guests would enjoy. Palak is always a hit with pulao, especially with a side of shami kabab.
The dinner was an expected hit, and not for its fanciness, but because the menu items sat together beautifully to make a wonderfully delicious meal over warm chit-chat and laughter.
The recipes I share with you today mostly come from my Nani’s kitchen, with the exception of khatti daal. Enjoy my menu. Here it is, from my kitchen to yours.
Mutton Pulao
The aromatic effervescence of fennel, coriander seeds and onions cooking in mutton yakhni (stock) makes pulao a delightful main course. The dish always transfers me to the time of wonder years when I thought my elders would live forever, sitting around a table of laughter, reprimands, family history lessons and character building.
Pulao is a universal and ancient food and has gathered many world cuisines in its embrace. History relays that the chef-d'œuvre of Persian kitchens was mutton and lamb pulao and it transformed to an elegant dish as it travelled from the campfires of hardened nomadic shepherds to the courts of the caliphs.
From ancient Persia, it spread far and wide to the entire Muslim world and beyond. When Babar arrived from Central Asia, he abhorred the sub-continent's cuisine. He was used to a hearty meat-based nomadic shepherds' meals, like the pulao. And so the pulao entered our region.
The cuisine of Pakistan and India may have central Asian, Turkish, Afghan and Persian roots, but we can't ignore that its nourishment and beauty was realised by the spices indigenous to the region. The sub-continental food is unique and has evolved over centuries to become what it has today — rich, vibrant, flavourful and elegant.
Ingredients
2¼ to 2½ lbs mutton, small pieces (preferably goat leg or shoulder meat)
1½ tbsp fennel seeds
3 tbsp coriander seeds
2 large onions
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp cumin
¼ to ½ cup oil
8½ cups water
2 cups rice
Salt to taste
1½ tbsp yogurt
1 tsp fresh ginger (chopped)
1 tsp fresh garlic (chopped)
Method
1) Add mutton, fours quarters of one large onion, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, salt to taste and water in a cooking pot and bring the water to boil.
2) Reduce heat to medium until the mutton is cooked and stock (yakhni) is reduced to half its original quantity (4¼ mugs).
3) Remove mutton pieces from stock (yakhni) and strain stock thoroughly through sieve, discarding the drained fennel, coriander and onions.
4) In a large pot pour oil and brown thinly sliced onions.
5) Once the onions are golden brown, add mutton, ginger, garlic, garam masala powder, cumin, salt to taste and yogurt and stir on high heat for a few minutes.
6) Now add mutton stock and bring to boil on high heat, adding pre-washed rice.
7) Maintain high heat until the rice fluffs and the stock is just a thin layer on the top of the rice.
8) Taper heat to low and seal the pot, initiating the 'dum' method (steam cooking after sealing the pot).
9) Let sit on low heat for 30 minutes.
10) Remove lid. Your perfect pulao is ready to be enjoyed.
Palak Gosht
The Food and Travel Magazine says the following about spinach:
The first we heard of spinach in Britain was when King Richard the Second’s master cooks penned a simple recipe for it in England’s earliest cookery book. Wherever it originated from, everybody seemed to fall for its robust mineral flavours and versatility. In India and Persia its pungent taste was welcomed as the perfect base for the intensely spiced cuisine.
Nothing is more quintessentially Punjabi than saag; it’s a hearty food, abundant in flavour and nutrients, much like the land and the people it belongs to.
Ingredients
2 lbs goat meat (preferably leg meat)
Chopped spinach
1½ medium sized onions
2½ medium sized tomatoes
Oil to taste
1 tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp fresh garlic
Salt to taste
3 to 5 green chillies (sliced in half)
1 to 1½ tsp red chilli
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin
½ to 1 tsp garam masala
10 to 12 black peppercorns
8 to 12 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 black cardamom
Chopped cilantro, green chillies, and chopped ginger for garnish
Method
1) In a pot, put together meat, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and ginger garlic.
2) Cook for 10 to 15 minutes on medium to high heat until the meat releases water, stirring occasionally.
3) Now add powdered spices and salt; cook for a few minutes, adding oil, whole spices and green chillies.
4) Cook and stir on high heat until the stew is of a rich red hue and the oil separates from the meat, adding a little water (eyeballing the required amount) to the stew and leave to simmer until meat is almost tender.
5) Add in the spinach and let the meat and spices cook together until tender, with the oil sitting atop.
6) Garnish and serve with hot chappati, naan or boiled rice. I prefer it with boiled white rice.
